Youth work coalition fears transfer to care sector skills council

Under a proposal being considered by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, youth work could fall under the remit of Skills for Care & Development, which currently represents a broad range of staff working in early years, children and young people’s services, and social work and social care.
 
Lifelong Learning UK previously oversaw youth work but the sector skills council was closed in March following a government review last year. Lifelong Learning UK’s role included setting national occupational standards for youth workers and working alongside the Joint Negotiating Committee for Youth and Community Workers to ensure workers received proper training.
 
But the organisers of the coalition Choose Youth plan to oppose Skills for Care & Development taking over responsibility for youth work skills development. In a statement, the campaigning group said the transfer would "result in responsibility for the national occupational standards for youth work, apprenticeships and qualifications being vested in an organisation that does not have the empowerment of young people and education as its core purpose".
 
It added that "this could have a major impact on the future direction of youth work training and professional development" and lead to "a period of unnecessary concern and potential conflict between the youth work field and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills".
 
Choose Youth is planning to raise its concerns at a meeting with the Community and Learning Development Panel on 13 July.
 
A spokeswoman for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills said that no decision had been made about which sector skills council will be given responsibility for youth work.
 
"We are working with the Learning and Skills Improvement Service to look at options for a permanent home for the former Lifelong Learning UK footprint, including youth work," she said.

"However, we are implementing proposals to ensure that certain products and services covering national occupational standards and apprentice frameworks currently delivered by sector skills councils and standard setting bodies are of a consistent quality and are procured under a contested arrangement to ensure value for money. As part of this, sector skills councils will be invited to submit proposals detailing how they intend to deliver these specific services and which sector areas they wish to deliver in."